Second generation 1394 to ATA bridge chip brings faster, more feature rich PC and MAC storage peripherals

Featuring 32-bit ARM processing and 512kb of integrated flash memory, an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) to ATA / ATAPI (IDE) bridge chip from Oxford Semiconductor, provides storage peripheral manufacturers with the fastest means yet to transfer data with PCs and MACs and the opportunity to build-in even greater product differentiation.

Assuring a sustained data transfer rate of up to 45MB/s, the second generation OXFW911 device and a Physical Interface Device (PHY), offers a two-chip, single firmware interface between ATA and 1394 ports. The high speed performance overcomes any potential bottleneck associated with ATA/1394 interfacing.

Peripherals to take advantage of the high data transfer capability include smart-cable or tailgate interface applications for removable-media and hard disk drives, compact flash card readers, CD-ROM, CD-RW and DVD-RAM products.

James Foster, Sales and Marketing Director at Oxford Semiconductor said, "The 1394 storage product market is rapidly expanding, and demand for high speed bridging chips has increased dramatically as a result. The OXFW911 offers the fastest solution on the market and meets the data transfer requirements of all existing and future storage products. With spare MIPS and over 50% of the flash memory free for user encoding, the product differentiation the device offers will be invaluable in creating competitive advantage".

ATA100 compliant, the OXFW911 bridge chip fully supports Ultra DMA mode 5 and corresponding data transfer rate of 35MB/s used in existing drive and operating systems. By removing the possibility of visible dropped frames, video editing in particular will benefit from the new chip. Future generation storage devices are also accommodated by the FW911's maximum 45MB/s transfer rate capacity.

Able to handle two IDE storage devices simultaneously, the OXFW911 provides an ideal solution for RAID products, and supports combination drive applications and the demands of 'digital convergence' projects. The OXFW911 features an integral hardware ORB co-processor to accelerate ORB to ATAPI command translation.

By supporting the SBP-2 standard, this FireWire to IDE interface chip is easily designed-in, backed by generic drivers of all the popular operating systems, including Windows, MacOS and Linux. A full suite of design support tools and development board is also available for the new bridge chip.

Housed in its ultra slim 128-TQFP package, the OXFW911 bridge chip offers drive designers PCB space saving advantages. Operating from a nominal 3.3V supply, the CMOS device also claims good power efficiency.